Method of manufacturing wagon-clips.



Patented M'ay 29, |900. .1. H. yn. METHOD 0F MANUFA G WAGON CLIPS.

(Application led Feb 19, 1900.)

BAKE

CTURIN 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

FIE?.

(No Model.)

' NVENTOR `"l Att'y.

wn'nessss Methods of Manufacturing Wagon-Clips, of which improvements the following is a speci -Nrrnn STATES' ATENT Fries..

JAMES H. BAKER, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE JAS. H. BAKER MANUFAQTURING COMPANY, OF PITTSBURG, PENN SYLVANA.

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING WAGON-CLIPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 650,744, dated May 29, 1900.

Application filed February 19, 1900. Serial No. 5,756. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, J AMES H. BAKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Allegheny, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements in fication. c

The invention described herein relates to certain improvements in the manufacture ofV carriage-clips, dro, These clips consist of a broad, flat, and com paratively-thin body portion, provided at their ends with round'stems, and it is customary to form these clips by flattening the middle portions of round rods having a diameter equal to that of the stems of the completed clip. This flattening has heretofore been generally done by spreading out the' middle portions of the rods into a suitable die by a hammer, the die being reciprocated under the hammer. As portions of the body portions of the clips extend on each side of the axial line of the stems, the body portions of the rods must be spread in both directions.

The invention consists in flattening the middle portion of a bar or rod and changing the relative positions of the middle portion and the endsof the rod so that the plane of the flattened portion will be at one side of the axes of the end portions; and the invention further consists in shifting the end portions of the rod during the flattening of the middle in the direction of flow of metal in the portion being flattened, whereby a line pass,- ing through the axes of the end portions will be between the edge vof the flattened portion and the median line thereof.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure l is an end elevation of a pair of rolls adapted to the practice of my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the lower roll, showing the shapingmatrix. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of 'the roll. Fig. 4t is a front elevation of rolls adapted for use in connection With the endwise feed of the rods. Fig. 5 is a plan View of the lower or matrix roll, showing a modification in the shaping-matrix; and Fig. 6 is a transverse section of the same. i

In the practice of my invention the rolls 1 and 2 are mounted in suitable housings, the

upper roll being adjustable in any manner known in the art toward and from the lower roll. As the thickness of the body portions /of the clips, except as regards the edges and a ribin line with the axes of the stems, is regulated by the distance between the upper and lovwer rolls, the faces of both rolls are made plain or of uniform radius, except as hereinafter specified. As is well known, it is'impossible to make rolls which will not 'spring or yield somewhat when a piece of V.metal is passed between, and'as front and rear ends or edges of the piece of metal present less resistance to reduction than the body portion thereof such ends or edges will be thinner than the body portion, so that when the body portion is thin the ends or edges of the metal piece are liable to be drawn to a knife-edge. In order to avoid the formation of the knife-edges on the body portion of the clip, grooves 3 and 4 are formed in the face of the lower 110112, where the edges of the body portion of clip are to be formed. The outer walls of these grooves are made approximately abrupt orstraightin a radial direction, while the opposite or inner faces merge gradually to the general contour or surface of the roll, as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

As the ends ot' the rod from which the clip is formed are not reduced or changed, grooves 5 are formed in the roll 2 for the reception of `the ends of the rods. The walls at the inner ends of these groovesincline graduallynpward and inward, forming V-shaped portions 6, the'walls of which gradually merge to the general contour or surface of the roll, except Vthat a V-shaped groove? connects the apices Yof the portions G. This groove 7 extends across the shaping or reducing portion of the roll, s o that a correspondingly-shaped rib is formed on one side of the body portion of the clip in line or approximately in line with the axes of the stem portions of the clips.

In forming the clips a heated rod is fed between the rolls, with its axis parallel withthe axes of the rolls, and held in proper relation to the reducing-surfaces and the grooves 5. As the rolls rotate the middle portion of the rod is flattened out and the end portions are pressed down into the grooves 5, so that in the finished article one surface of the flat- IOO tened portion will be tangential with the end portions.

If a rod should be placed across the shaping portion of the roll 2, with its axis in line radially with the axes of the grooves 5, and in that position passed between the rolls, the flattened middle portion would lie almost entirely on one side of the axes of the stems. In order to elfeet a more equable distribution of the flattened portion with relation to the stems, holding-arms 8 are so secured to the ends of the rolls that hooks S on said arms will hold the rod with its axis ahead of the axial lines of the grooves 5 a distance proportional to the desired distribution or location of the flattened portion relative to the stems. The forward edges of the hooks 8n are inwardly inclined, and the front walls a of the grooves 5 are similarly inclined, so that when the end portions of the rods are forced down into the grooves 5 they will also be forced backward by the inclines of the hooks 8u and the inclined walls a of the grooves 5 into said grooves, thereby bringing the stems into proper-relation to the flattened portion of the clip. It will be understood that by adjusting the arms 8 the positions of the stems relative to the flattened portions in the completed blank may be changed as desired.

It is sometimes the practice to cut the rod into sections, heat the sections, and then feed them to the rolls. To facilitate the feed of the sections, a hopper 9 is attached to the housing of the rolls for the reception of the heated sections. The sections are caught by the pointed ends of the arms 8 and carried one by one between the rolls. The section immediately above the one carried forward drops down onto the roll 2, but is prevented from being carried forward by the roll by a spring 10, as shown in Fig. 1, the rear ends of the springs serving to hold the rod to be shaped in position against the hooks 8,

In order to remove the completed blank or clip from the roll 2, levers 11 are pivotally mounted on the ends of the roll in such relation to the grooves 5 that when the levers are shifted one end thereof will strike against the projecting stems of the completed elipblank and remove the latter from the roll 2. Shifting-plates 12, having cam-shaped ends, are so secured to the housing of the rolls that the tails or outer ends of the levers 11 will strike against and be shifted by the plates after the shaping portion of the roll 2 has passed from under the roll 1. The levers are relturned to normal position by springs 13.

As it is sometimes desirable to heat a long length of rod and feed it longitudinally to the rolls, a guide feed-tube 14; is attached to one of the housings and a stop-plate 15 to the opposite housing in such position, as to permit of the rod being fed across the roll 2 after the arms S have passed up, as shown in Figs. 4t and 5. In order to cut off the portions of the rod thus fed across the roll 2, the front edge of the holding-arm 8 on the end of the rod adjacent to the feed-tube 14 is constructed to form a shear-blade and the eomplemenf tary blade 16 is secured to the housing of the rolls.

It has been found that when clips are broken in use the splitting or rupture begins at one or the other edge of the flattened portion. In order to strengthen the clips, I provide for the formation of ribs along the edges from one stem to the other by comparatively-deep grooves 3 and 4 and extend them so that at their ends they will merge or run into the grooves 5. In lieu of dividing the matrix or forming portions of the roll 2 into two tables b and e by the groove 7, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the groove 7 is omitted, so that the matrix or the portion of the roll employed for forming the body of the clip consists of a single continuous table d, as shown in Fig. (l. The ends of this table are V-shaped, as at 17, and project into the grooves 5. The side walls of these V-shaped portions gradually merge into the inner walls of the grooves 35t and 4M By the action of these projections the metal of the stems adjacent to the flattened portion is divided and caused to pass into the grooves 5a and 4u.

I claim herein as my invention-1 1. As an improvement in the art of manufacturing wagon-clips, the method herein de-y scribed, whieh consists in flattening or laterally spreading the middle portion of a rod by passing the rod laterally between moving shaping-surfaces and shifting the end por-A tions to positions where one 4surface of the flattened portion will be in a plane substantially tangential to the'end portions of the rod, substantially as set forth.

2. As an improvement in the art of manufacturing wagon-clips, the method herein described, which consists in flattening or laterally spreading the middle portion of a rod by passing the rod laterally between moving, shaping-surfaces, and shifting the end portions of the rod in the direction of the flow of metal in the portion being flattened, substantially as set forth.

3. The herein-described method of rolling wagon-clips wherein a portion of a rod intermediate between its ends is flattened, said method consisting in subjecting the portion so to be flattened to the compressive action of a pair of die-rolls whereby to form one side or section of the flattened portion and as such flattening is done, pushing backward and along with the metal being acted on by the rolls, the unilattened ends of the rod such distance as may be desired, and with the ends in their new positionflattening the opposite side or section of the blank by continuing the rolling action, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JAMES H. BAKER.

\Vitnesses:

DARWIN S. WoLCo'rT, F. E. GAITHER.

IOO

IIO 

